Intercultural Challenges of Teaching in Multilingual/Multicultural Classrooms

Abstract

Language and culture are inseparable entities forming an interdependent relationship within the multilingual classroom, which is both a melting pot of languages as well as a myriad of cultural backgrounds. In learning a common language, known as “lingua franca,” in the multilingual classroom, culture plays a critical role since the lingua franca makes communication possible between language teachers and multilingual students. Cultural connections and effective communication enables these students to engage in social and interactive activities and allows them to become active participants of the multilingual classroom. This chapter addresses some of the major intercultural challenges that both teachers and students of multilingual classrooms currently face within the “cultural jungle” of New York City. These multilingual students are simultaneously learning English as the lingua franca and participating in an intercultural educational experience in order to become linguistically and interculturally competent global citizens.

The challenges of implementing cultural-based teaching in remedial education: analyses and recommendations

“…The study findings highlighted several challenges, including the lack of teaching resources, limited support for the existing curricular structures, inadequate teaching knowledge related to cultural appropriations, and the issue of allocating time to prepare teaching materials. Furthermore, the result was consistent with other findings demonstrating the difficulty in accessing cultural reference sources for educational materials [42]. When the curriculum only provides a general outline without sufficient details, teachers must adapt instructional strategies in the classroom [43] to provide diverse student learning experiences instead of focusing on the conventional teaching method.…”

Translanguaging Practices in Early Childhood Classrooms From an Intercultural Perspective

“…These languages and cultures influence one another; and eventually they even blend in together. Therefore, as in recent years more young learners are introduced to multilingual/multicultural educational settings, more of these young learners are also exposed to developing bi-, or multicultural identities (Csillik, 2019b) around the world.…”

“…Or, as Li Wei (2005, p.56) rightfully pointed out, "a particular language is the mirror of a particular culture". In this sense, multilingual learners not only learn the target language, but also they simultaneously learn the target culture that the target language is associated with (Csillik, 2019b). Moreover, they learn about other cultures represented in the diverse classroom alongside with the target language's culture.…”

English as an International Language: Perceptions of EFL Preservice Teachers in Higher Education Institutions in Indonesia

“…The current findings support the recommendation that English language teacher education focuses on extending teachers' perspectives of WE, EIL, and ELF paradigms, introducing relevant multilingual/multicultural approaches of English teaching, for instance, developing a set of listening materials based on WE for use in EFL classrooms to raise students' awareness of English varieties [37]. Language teachers and curriculum developers can incorporate varieties of English, especially Asian Englishes, to classroom practices, placing a focused look at developing students' competencies for interactions [8] and assisting them in developing into global citizens who are linguistically and interculturally competent [38,39]. In other words, during EFL teaching and learning, it is critical to consider the significance of cultural capital and linguistic ideology, as well as the construction of identity [40,41].…”